In mobile communication systems, the device responsible for communication with mobile stations is the base station. A base station typically forms one or more cells in which mobile stations may be located.
In modern day mobile systems, there exist a variety of different services that require various amounts of bandwidth. This means that one mobile station may require various amounts of network resources depending on the services it uses. The number of mobile stations that communicate with a base station can also vary considerably. All in all this means that a base station may have to handle considerable differences in load. Furthermore, a base station is traditionally considered as a single entity. This means that the whole base station will always be active independently of the load. This may therefore make the base station consume more energy than necessary, which increases the cost of operation. This may also be disadvantageous from an environmental point of view.
There is therefore a need for a more flexible base station solution that can be more easily adapted to the communication required both in terms of number of mobile stations as well as in terms of bandwidth requirements of the mobile stations.
The present invention is therefore directed towards providing a more flexible base station structure.